After the battle of Inkerman on November 5th, 1854 the British Army faces a terrible winter. Provisions and clothing for the troops are hopelessly inadequate. In this grim season Sergeant 'Fancy Jack' Crossman and his troop are billeted at Kadikoi village near Balaclava harbor - their official instructions to blow up the magazine in the Russian Star Fort. But it transpires this is not to be Crossman's main mission. His true, and infinitely more complex and dangerous task is to spy on a British General suspected of corruption, and to bring about his downfall...